Apparatus for guiding and stabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casings



y 1940- J. BLGRAHAM ET AL 2,206,185

APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND STABBING SUCCESSIVE SECTIONS OF OIL ORGAS WELL CASINGS v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1939 J4ME@ 5. 664H4M m4 4004. 6. MHYEE.

y Z 1940. 'J. B. GRAHAM E1 AL 2,206,185

APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND STABBING SUCCESSIVE SECTIONS OF OIL 08 GAS WELL CASINGS Filed June 10, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE-5-4;

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Patented July 2, 1940 PATENT OFFICE APPAnATUs'Fon Gummdann s'mnnmo SUCCESSIVE sac'rrons or on. on Gas warm. CASINGS James B. Graham, Mount Lebanon, and Raoul Mayer.

Wilkinsburg,

Pia, minors to National Tube Company, acorporation of New Jersey Application June 10, 1939, Serial No. 278,558

Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for guiding and stabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casing prior to running them into the drilled hole or well and moreparticularly to ap- 5 paratus for centering and holding the casing steady while being aligned with and joined to a preceding section by a screw or weld connection.

In setting casing in a well. it is the customary practice to lift it in the derrick by means of a ll rope or cable passing through pulleys to a power- -operated winding drum. The lifting rope is fastened to one end of the casing section, so that, in the latters elevated position, it is suspended lengthwise in the air. These lifting ropes are not 5 so located as to permit the casing to hang centrally in the derrick to enable easy alignment of the casing with the preceding casing section. but tend to pull the casing toward one side or one corner of the derrick. This requires skillful operation to bring the casing section into vertical alignment with the preceding section in the hole to which it is to be joined by a screw or weld connection and to hold it in position during the forming of the joint. I An object of the present invention resides in holding the casing firmly at its top while it is being connected to an adjoining casing section within a well;

Another object of the present invention resides in adjustably supporting a guiding or stabbing device on a carriage so that it is readily adjusted to accommodate different diameters of pipe.

Other objects. and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds and reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in'which: Figure 1 is an end elevation of one form of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan of Figure 1; Figure3 is a sectional side elevation showing the stabbing guide firmly holding a casing section;

Figure 4 isa sectional side elevation of another form of stabbing or guiding apparatus; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the guiding apparatus in inoperative position. By the term stabbing is meant the operation of registering one end of a pipe joint with another, particularly in a threaded joint, where the threads of the male and female ends must be matched correctly before screwing together t avoid damage to the threads.

The apparatus of this invention may be considered as made up of two separate members each varying in type' of construction and usable in diflerent combinations; that is, a guiding and retaining or steadying member in combination with a supporting carriage. While the two members lend themselves to different forms of construction and combinations, the general purpose of each is identical.

The supporting carriage for the guide or steady it rest may be of varied'construction and a specific example of a desired supporting carriage construction is shown in our copending application Serial No. 263,313 entitled Stabbing guide."- In the present drawings, there is only shown a portion of the supporting carriage construction which includes a platform 3 which is known as a "stabbing board. The commercial angles 4 which have their horizontal legs facing each other to serve as a support for said platform 3, have attached to them the present guide or steady rest to be hereinafter described. This supporting carriage is adapted to be supported to derrick girts by bolts which pass through spaced openings formed in angles which are fastened to the derrick girts on opposite sides of the derrick, which construction is specifically shown in our above identifled copending application.

By providing the plurality of spaced openings upon the derrick construction, it is possible to remove the bolts and adjust the position of the supporting carriage to the desired height, by inserting the bolts in the desired openings.

The supporting carriage is retained in position upon the derrick, in any conventional manner. The platform 3 affords a footing for the operator to stand on and, to assist in the safety of the operator, there is secured to one of the vertical legs of the member I, a guard railing ii of con ventional design. I

The guiding member or steady rest of the present invention comprises a structural member 2 provided on one end with two legs 2 and 2'" formed thereon, which legs are so positioned and arranged as to form a V-shaped supporting surface. On the other end of said structural member 2, there is provided a centrally positioned elongated slot or opening 5, while a flange or latch engaging member 6 extends outwardly from said structural member 2 so that it is capable of being engaged by a pivoted latch 1.

Surrounding the structural member 2 at one side of the platform 3 is a sleeve 8 conforming to the shape of said structural member 2 and provided with a threaded bolt for securely retaining said structural member in position for pivotal mgvement on the bearing members in which may be of conventional design. The bearing members iii) it are secured to the vertical flange of one oi the angle members 2 by means of the bolts l2.

Secured to the vertical flange of the oppositely disposed angle member :3, by a threaded bolt id, 15 a plate is to which is pivotaliy secured said latch l, which latch is operated by movement o=" the treadle or foot lever it for disengaging said latch i from the latch engaging member s when it is desired to release said guiding member or steady rest from its operative position as shown in tall. lines in Figure 3 to its inoperative position shown. in dotted lines.

Slidably mounted, for adjustment, within the slot or opening 5 is a counterweight ii. The adjustment of the counterweight automatically moves the steady rest into inoperative position as shown in dotted lines-in Figure 3 when the latch member i is disengaged from the latch engaging member The adjustment necessary to be made to the counterweight ll is determined upon the adjust-- ment of the structural member 2; for various diametcred pipes, which position of the counter weight must be such that upon release of the catch i, the counterbalanced end of the structural member if automatically causes said struc-= tut-cl member 2 to move upon its pivot within said bearings iii so as to move the V-shaped suptingsurface oi the steady rest out of engage a h. the casing section to an inoperative shot u by the dotted lines of Figure 3. is desired to align a new section oi which is already in the well, i moved from its dotted line posh tion as shown in Figure 3 to the full line position by operating the chain it to raise the struc lulal member 2 until the latch l engages the undersuri'ace of the latch engaging member a. The threaded. bolt on sleeve 8 is then loosened so that adjustment oi the structural member 2 formin the guiding member or steady rest can be moved into position so as to contact the casing section to be aligned. When properly posl= tioned to engage the casing section, the bolt on sleeve s is tightened to retain said steady rest in its adjusted position, after which, the counterweight ll is moved on the structural member 2 to the point necessary to cause said steady rest, to pivot on its bearings ill for disengaging the V-shaped supporting surface from the casing section after thelatch i is released.

Each of the vertical legs of the angles 6 is provided with slots l9 so that the guide or steady rest may be moved transversely onsaid platform 3 in order to properly align the vertex of the V,-shaped supporting surface with the casing section to be held in position during its alignment with the casing section within the well.

in the construction shown in Figures c and 5, there is shown a modified form of guiding member or steady rest. In this construction, the guiding member or steady rest comprises arightangled structural member consisting of the arms 20 and 2i, the latter having formed thereon the legs 2 and I so positioned and arranged as to form a -V -shaped supporting surface. This rightangled structural member is plvotally supported to a plate 22 secured to the vertical leg of one of the channel members G in the manner similar to that described with respect to the construction shown in Figures 1 to 3. This permits adjustment of the steady rest transversely ofthe platform 3 to properly position the V-shaped supporting surface for guiding the pipe to, be aligned with the casing section within the well.

asoaies The arm 28 has formed integrally thereon a lug 2% adapted to abut the face of plate 22 and serve to intain the steady rest in proper oper= ating position while the arm 2911s provided with a counterbalance weight it, which counterbalance weight is adjustable on said arm to cause said steady rest to move upon its pivot when the stop '25 is removed from the slotted stop rest 26%.,

25 is mounted so that upon movement of the chain to position the stop 25 within the slotted stop rest it) the steady rest will move upon its pivot irom'its operating position as shown in full lines in Figure 4 to its inoperative position as shown in Figure 5. a

While we have shown and described specific embodiments of the present invention, it will be seen that we do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the inven== tion, as defined by the following claims.

-We claim:

i. In combination with a supporting carriage, a device for guiding and stabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casing while being aligned with and joined to a preceding casing section comprising a structural member having a t shapcd supporting surface, means tor pivotally supporting said guide on said carriage, an adjustable counterweight on the end of said structural member, cooperating means on said carriage and structural member for holding said guide in operative position and means for releasing said guide irom operative position so that the counterweight will automatically move said guide on its pivot to an inoperative position.

2. In combination with a supporting carriage,

a device for guiding and stabbing successive secsaid guide from operative positlonso that the counterweight will automatically move said guide on its pivot to an inoperative position, and means for controlling the movement of said guide to properly align the V-shaped supporting surface with a casing section to be guided for joining with a preceding casing section located within a well.

3. In combination with a supporting carriage, a device for guiding andstabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casing while being aligned with and joined to a preceding casing section comprising a structural member having a. V- shaped supporting surface, means for pivotally supporting said structural member intermediate its ends on said supporting carriage so that it is movable in a vertical plane to its operative and inoperative positions, a counterweight arranged on one end of said structural member so as to unbalance the same and automatically move it to one of said positions, and means for moving said structural member to the other of said positions.

4. In combination with a supporting carriage.

1 a device for guiding and stabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casing while being aligned with and joined to a preceding casing section I 2,206,185 comprising a longitudinally extending structural member having a V-shaped uiding portion arranged on one end thereof and a counterweight adjustabl'y arranged on the opposite end thereof, said structural member being pivotaily attached to said supporting carriage intermediate its ends so as to be movable in a vertical plane, and means for releasably holding said structural member in its operative position so as to position said V-shaped guiding portion next to said casing, said counterweight adapted to automatically move said structural member to its inoperative position so as to position said V-shaped guiding portion away from the casing.

5. In combination with a supporting carriage, a device for guiding'and stabbing successive sections of oil or gas well casing while being aligned with and joined to a preceding casing section comprising an angular structural member having a v-shaped guiding portion arranged on the end or one of the arms thereof and a counterweight adiustably arranged on the other arm thereof, said angular structural member being pivotally attached to said supporting carriage tural member to its operative position so as to position said V-shaped portion next to the casing.

JAMES B. GRAHAM. RAOUL G. MAYER. 

